fall inside a hole
Doll Play Mickey Mouse Train & Colorful Rail Set (1998)
First written June 6, 2024
In 1998 the Doll Play Mickey Mouse Train, a diesel locomotive with two open carriages and Disney character dolls, was released as a sort-of companion to the Mickey Poppo steam locomotive. A set featuring the train, character dolls, and a station with colorful rails was released as the Doll Play Mickey Mouse Train & Colorful Rail Set (人形あそび ミッキーマウストレイン&カラフルレールセット) in 1998.
The rear of the box and the production sticker in the train (shown below) imply the set was produced in 1997 ahead of its 1998 release.
Set contents
| Quantity |
Item |
Photo |
|---|---|---|
| 3 pieces | Doll Play Mickey Mouse Train |
 |
| 4 | Disney character dolls |
 |
| 8 | R-03 Curve Rail (two each blue, green, white, and yellow) |
 |
| 4 pieces | J-17 New Railroad Crossing (set variant with Huey, Dewey, and Louie) |
 |
| 4 pieces | Disney panel station |
 |
Doll Play Mickey Mouse Train (1998)
The Doll Play Mickey Mouse Train (人形あそび ミッキーマウストレイン) was a Disney-licensed train that includes a red diesel train and two open carriages and four Disney character dolls. It was released individually in character-style packaging in 1998 and disappeared from the range by 2000. The example shown here has some Mickey Mouse stickers presumably from a sheet sold in Japan in the late 1990s affixed to the roofs of the carriages.
The locomotive vaguely resembles American diesel locomotives - I actually think it is quite neat, they should have used the tooling in a Tomica World set or something like they did with the American diesels in the early 2000s. This example was produced in September 1997.
The dolls included are plastic figures of Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, and Daisy Duck. Despite the Doll Play name, these dolls are not compatible with the Doll Play series of dolls and do not have holes in their bases to work with Doll Play accessories. These figures are simply part of a variety of licensed "doll play" character trains released in the later 1990s that included play figures with trains. Most of these trains were released individually and in a simple oval set.
The station in this set uses a panel station system base with a curved real wall and roof sections with a Mickey Mouse ears piece on top. The crossing is actually a set variant - one of the boom gate housings has been replaced by a larger piece that includes a space for a Huey and Dewey sticker. A figure of Louie, the other of Donald Duck's nephews, is included to fit onto the studded area on the crossing - unfortunately, I am missing this set-exclusive piece.
As the name of the set implies, there are some colorful curve rails included - two each of regular blue, a dark green, white, and yellow. The blue, white, and yellow rails come from "THAILAND" marked toolings while the green comes from a TOMY THAILAND tooling.
Obviously this set is not particularly complex but it mostly seems to exist as an alternative way to buy the Mickey Mouse train with figures. The station and crossing are perfectly fine accessories and have nice Disney decorations and the colorful rails are cool too. This set is perhaps not as interesting as some of the other character trains that had unique operating accessories. The doll figurines themselves also add play value over regular Plarail sets.
| Set name | Doll Play Mickey Mouse Train &
Colorful Rail Set 人形あそび ミッキーマウストレイン&カラフルレールセット |
Release period | 1998 |
| Train rating |
  
| Track rating |
|
| Accessory rating |
| Overall |
|
| Notes: | Depending on how you consider the dolls, the train or accessory ratings could change slightly | Price | 3800 yen (1998) |